There was a small toy store in downtown Kansas City in the late 50's, early 60's, located in a basement, where you entered by going down outside steps from the sidewalk and entering at a door that was set below street level. It had two or three separate rooms, I think three, and was tightly packed with shelves, so close together that it was hard for two people to squeeze past each other.

I think, although I might be misremembering, that it sold a lot of imported toys. It was not the typical mass marketed toys. When I was seven years old (1961), I got a tray of 100 water colors there, which I think were made in England.

Does anybody else remember that toy store and know what its name was, and/or what the street address was? If anyone has a Yellow Pages from the era, that might help identify it.

I lived in Liberty from 1959 through 1962. We moved to New Mexico when I was eight years old, so I have no idea if that toy store stayed in business past 1962 or not.

Possibly it was not really the area officially called "downtown", but it was in some neighborhood that to a child from the suburbs seemed very like the downtown of a big city. It was definitely not in a shopping center.

I think it carried the name of the family who owned it, maybe Anderson's or Alexander's or something like that, although since it was 49 years ago and I was only 7 and only went there two or three times, my memory on the name could be completely off. I know I would still recognize it if I were to run back time and see it the way it looked then, though._________________http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/

Maybe some other baby boomer who drops by will read the query and recognize the description. There can't have been very many stores with no street level entrance. I was hoping one of the Yellow Pages ads might mention the basement entry, since it is unusual._________________http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/

I stumbled on to this site while searching the internet for Midwest Merchandise, my family's long time business, whose last location was 1008 Broadway across from the Coates House Hotel. I found Midwest Merchandise listed in one of the other responses to the original querry. I am pretty certain the business referred to was Kansas City Carnival Supply, one of our competitors, which was located on a NW corner on the same side of the street farther north on Broadway, either 8th or 9th and Broadway. I know the building when I see it but I don't get downtown often enough anymore to recall it from memory. I do seem to remember going down the steps to enter that business in the 50's and 60's as a child. I believe the owner's name was Eldon Klein. They later moved and built a new building at 85th and Troost across from the old Stroud's location.

After my grandfather passed away, my dad continued the business for a few years and then retired before I was out of high school. He sold the building to the Bonino family, long time owners of the Quaff Buffet which was also located in the building which occupied Midwest Merchandise. The Quaff then expanded into the rest of the front part of the first floor.

Another interesting point about the building was that you can still see bricked in arch ways in the basement that I was told were part of an undergroung tunnel for used by pedestrians coming from the Coates House Hotel to the Coates Opera House down the street during inclement weather. The building also has a sub-basement which I thought was pretty spooky as a child. One of my chores was to occassionaly go to the sub-basement and sweep the floor.